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by Ranga Jayasuriya

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) yesterday agreed on a "road map" to an action plan for the re-integration of child combatants and assisting children affected by war, both parties announced yesterday in a joint statement.

At a meeting held yesterday in Kilinochchi between UNICEF Sri Lankan resident representative Ted Chaiban and LTTE political chief Thamilchelvam, both parties worked out preliminary arrangements for the preparation and the implementation of the action plan, which Chaiban expressed hopes will be implemented in early April.

"The road map (to the action plan) begins with the draft plan which will be submitted by the LTTE to the UNICEF on March 10 for further discussions," Chaiban told the Daily News.

The LTTE draft will be based on concerns made by the UNICEF, Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and the LTTE, he said.

"There had been an exchange of ideas between the parties during the past few weeks and all will be taken into account in the draft plan".

After the draft plan is submitted to the UNICEF, the LTTE, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and the UNICEF will meet on March 14 and 15 to review the technical and operational aspects of the draft action plan, according to a joint media release by the UNICEF and the LTTE.

A workshop to finalise the action plan will be held at the end of March with the participation of the Government,the LTTE, the TRO, UNICEF and the other international agencies.

The planning workshop will be followed by district level workshops to work out implementation in each district.

The UNICEF will conduct Child Rights training for LTTE members and its political cadres in April. Chaiban said the action plan would cover not only child soldiers, but also all children affected by war. "All necessities of the children's re-integration such as education, vocational training will be taken into consideration," he said, however, adding, its implementation of the plan is dependent on funding.

A transit centre for children affected by war where "the best interests of the children can be ensured" will be set up according to a proposal made by the LTTE, Chaiban said.

At the fifth round of peace talks in Berlin, the Government and the LTTE called for UNICEF assistance to re-integrate child soldiers with their families and help children affected by war.

Yesterday's meeting is the first since the invitation and Chaiban said:" I am really encouraged by the positive decisions reached at the meeting".

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